


Turn Around

by scorned



Category: Portrait de la jeune fille en feu | Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:47:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26942395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scorned/pseuds/scorned
Summary: Marianne takes matters into her own hands and tries to end a family feud, but she meets Héloïse.
Relationships: Héloïse & Marianne (Portrait of a Lady on Fire), Héloïse/Marianne (Portrait of a Lady on Fire)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 65





	1. Chapter 1

“Maman, please don’t make me stay in this awful place!” Héloïse’s whines echo against the grey brick. “It’s already been 3 days!”

Valeria doesn’t answer. She continues to apply her makeup in silence, not staring at Héloïse’s reflection in the mirror. Héloïse’s lips tighten into a straight line. Her hands clench and all the anger concentrates in her mind. She wants to scream at the older blonde in front of her, but she knows it’s no use. She knows that she is soon losing this battle. The war between them will finally cease with Héloïse waving the white flag. Soon, she’ll be married off to some prince and for what? A few generations worth of money. 

With her heart beating fast in her chest, she turns her heels quickly around and stomps heavily on the weak wooden floor. Héloïse doesn’t know how she can escape this seemingly inevitable surrender. She slams her large dark wooden door shut, the loud bang startling the birds perched on her windowsill. She walks to the old window in her room and stares off into the cliffs. She can hear waves crashing into the shore off in the distance. All she wants to do is run.

After a few minutes of sulking and calming herself down, Héloïse makes her way out of her room and down into the kitchen. She loses her balance on the stone stairs chipped away from years of use, thankfully catching herself against the equally as damaged wall. She curses that Valeria really had to choose the oldest building in existence to seek refuge in. All this wealth seemingly used for nothing but to torture Héloïse.

She turns the corner and sees a small woman preparing a meal on the table in front of a modern oven. It sticks out like a sore thumb against the historic house. Héloïse slumps against the wooden table. She crosses her arms on the table and rests her head on it. 

“How are you, princess?” The woman asks which can be barely heard over the loud chopping of vegetables.

“Oh Sophie, this is tragic. I’ve been here for three days and I am so bored. I read through every book I packed, I walked through every trail around this stupid house and now we have nothing to talk about,” Héloïse rants. She can feel her hot breath against her arm, as if she’s breathing fire. 

The chopping stops abruptly and Héloïse raises her head. She sees Sophie’s hands on her hips and her brown eyes stern. “What do you mean we have nothing to talk about?”

“Sophie, you know everything about me and I know everything about you at this point.”

“That’s incorrect.”

“Name one thing I don’t know about you.”

A pause. A frown appears. At least Héloïse can win this battle. 

“I guess you’re right,” Sophie sighs. “But for someone who is approaching 21, you act like a baby.”

Héloïse feigns an insulted gasp. Her hand brought to her chest as if she’s in pain. “Your words stab deep.”

Sophie gives her a toothy grin with no apology, but Héloïse is content. All the anger has dissipated elsewhere into her body. She’s thankful for Sophie. It’s quite lonely in this massive cobblestone building with only her mother and Sophie, but her ever growing relationship with Sophie keeps her sane. All those countless hours she has spent with Sophie, travelling from one place to another has made them very close.

Eventually, Héloïse finds herself out in the back garden. She’s alone with her thoughts with the blue sky hanging above her. Her feet tap on the stone path beneath her. She walks past the freshly budding flowers that are starting to bloom for spring. The sweater and sweatpants that she wears barely keeps her warm, but despite the frigid air, she continues to walk. Héloïse wonders if she’d suffer the same ill fate as her sister.

* * *

“You ready?” A faint voice breathes into Marianne’s ear. 

Marianne slightly nods. Her eyes focused on the closed door in front of her. She feels the hand on her shoulder grip a little tighter. Her heart beats at a calm rhythmic pace in her chest. Her hands grip on tightly on the hard metal of her black glock 17. She stands with her legs slightly bent and her back against the wall. 

She sees out of the corner of her eyes three fingers held up. Then two. Finally one.

She watches someone from across the door slowly put their hand on the doorknob and turn it ever so slowly. Once open, she funnels into the room with quick steps. Her and her partner enter the room as quietly as possible with their weapons raised. Her eyes scan her environment. An empty hotel room.

Her partner goes past her and checks the slightly cracked door on her left as she relaxes and lowers her gun. “Clear,” the same voice from before says in a normal volume. The other person steps into the room.

Marianne’s lips form into a straight line. “They’re supposed to be here. Where did you get this lead from?”

“From the boss himself,” the person behind her speaks.

Marianne raises an eyebrow. She turns her eyes slightly to her partner who is standing at the door of the washroom. They both communicate the same message and Marianne sighs. She doesn’t turn as she takes further steps into the room. Her heavy boots step quietly on the dark navy carpet beneath her. 

“Step into the room and close the door will you?” Marianne’s voice is commanding and soft. The person does just that as Marianne sits on the end of the bed. She doesn’t change her relaxed demeanor as silence fills the room. “I never caught your name,” She asks the stranger.

“It’s James,” He responds. His voice is oddly deep.

Marianne looks up at him for the first time. He has short blonde hair that is slicked back with soft brown eyes. He’s conventionally attractive and she starts to feel bad for him. 

“Tell me James, how long have you been doing this for?” Marianne asks. 

“About 3 years.”

“3 years is a long time to be bad at your job,” Marianne says, lowering her head into her hand. She rubs her templates and sighs again. 

Panic washes over his face. He hastily raises his gun and points it directly at Marianne. Without letting a second pass, her partner raises her gun and points it directly at this head. Marianne can see his lower lip quiver despite him trying to keep his demeanor calm. She puts on a frown. She hates when she has to do this. 

They stand like this for a few minutes. Each minute that passes his confidence falls drastically. By the end of it, his gun is on the floor, out of his reach and his body shakes. Marianne hasn’t moved from sitting on the edge of the bed and her partner hasn’t lowered her gun. Eventually, he’s on his knees with his eyes glued to the floor and begging.

“Please don’t kill me,” He begs, his voice shaky. Marianne finally stands. Her head bent down, staring at him as she made his way to him. “Please, please.”

“James, you know how this works. I would spare you if I could, but we’re already here,” Marianne says standing over him.

“Please, just talk to your boss. There must be some kind of misunderstanding,” He begs further.

Marianne lets out a small chuckle. She cocks her gun and points it at this head. “I am the boss,” then pulls the trigger.

* * *

“Hey, are you okay?” 

“Yes Emma, don’t worry.” 

“This is the third one this year,” Emma says as she lets her long dark brown hair down from her ponytail in the passenger seat.

Marianne runs her free hand through her short tousled hair as she sighs. “Please Emma, let’s stop talking about it.” 

“All I’m saying is that we should go straight to the source. You know why this is happening,” Emma continues on.

Marianne knows she’s right. It’s only May and she has had three hired assassins come after her. She curses her father for leaving her this legacy. Long story short, some years back, Marianne’s father was hired to murder the king of France and ever since the queen has been hiring her own assassins to get revenge. Sadly, she was successful and managed to hire someone Marianne’s father fell in love with. Despite being in love with one another, the assassin completed her job.

After that, Marianne was given the burden. To continue the family business. She got her own revenge on the assassin that killed her father and ever since the queen has her as her new target. Not surprisingly, the queen hires poorly trained assassins and Marianne has been able to defend herself every single time. Ever since the first attack on her, Marianne has been tracking down the queen trying to finish this family feud ever since. Finally, two years later, she has been successful in tracking them down.

“I have it handled Em,” Marianne didn’t want to tell Emma, but it’s now the time. Marianne leaves to end this whole thing in a couple of days. “I found them and I’m going to meet them in two days.”

“What do you mean meet them?”

“They hired me to be the princess’ companion,” Marianne answers. She smiles to herself, proud that she was able to even secure this.

“How the fuck did you manage that?” Emma asks, her mouth ajar and face full of shock.

Marianne doesn’t look away from the road, but she knows Emma is eager to know. “Well, they don’t know my name or what I really look like, so it was kind of easy. Plus the queen is a dunce.”

* * *

When they arrive back at their apartment, Marianne finally takes off her bulletproof vest. Her black polo underneath slightly damp from sweat. She kicks off her boots at the door and drops her vest onto the dining table of their flat. Marianne walks further in, her body tired as she unloads her gun and places it away into a secret compartment in the wall. Afterwards, she walks into the bathroom and starts the shower.

Emily appears at the door with a sly smile on her face. She stands, leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed and her eyes glued to Marianne. Marianne turns and faces her girlfriend, “What?”

“You’re hot,” Emma says as her eyes dilate. 

A small smile appears on Marianne’s face. Her body warms. Despite her hard demeanor, Marianne has a big heart that aches every time she does her job. She was trained at a young age to not let any emotion escape and to allow no one into her bubble. Her father always told her that doing this job is difficult, but it must be done. A business that is generations old and tradition must not be broken. 

“Thank you, you are too.” Marianne turns, knowing that Emma is staring at her ass. “Are you coming?” She gives Emma a sultry look over her shoulder.

Emma grins and closes the door behind her.

* * *

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Emma asks once again. She’s yelling to beat the loudness of the waves. Darkness hangs over them.

Marianne doesn’t turn to face Emma who is behind her steering the boat. Marianne simply nods, staring ahead. She sees the beach growing closer as they approach it. Her heart beats quietly in her chest despite the nervousness that’s growing in her stomach. The one too many questions hound her thoughts and despite her best efforts, they refuse to be silenced. So, she just swallows the lump in her throat.

Soon, they’re beached and Marianne grabs her two duffle bags from the boat and throws them onto the sand. The fall with a small thud as the sand molds around the black bags. Emma cuts the motor and silence falls. Sounds of small waves washing up against the sand can be heard. The stars and moon above them shine brightly and illuminate the world below. The air is slightly cold.

Marianne turns around and sees Emma’s delicate features. Her dark brown eyes barely visible besides the painted speckle in her eye, but Marianne can see the worry bright as day. Marianne gives her the best reassuring smile she could muster.

“Please don’t worry,” Marianne’s voice softened.

She takes a careful step towards Emma. Marianne puts her arms around Emma’s shoulders and holds her tight. The warmth engulfs her. Her face in the nape of her neck. Marianne takes a deep breath in, smelling the comforting smell of Emma’s shampoo. She holds her so tight that she can feel Emma’s heart beat rapidly against her chest. Her chest aches for making Emma worry.

Soon, Marianne breaks their embrace, but still keeps her arms around Emma’s neck. They stare into each other’s eyes. Marianne smiles, feeling nothing in her chest. She leans in and gives Emma a soft kiss. Her lips cold and dry from the cold air, but Marianne kisses her anyway. She doesn’t know when she’ll see Emma next, so she spends a little more time being tender than she usually would. 

Eventually, Marianne’s standing on the sand with a duffle bag in each hand. Her boots dig into the sand as she stares up the hill and at the large cobblestone building. It’s in awe by its sheer size. Who would have thought that a building like this exists on the shore of Brittany and completely off the grid. Marianne wonders what the princess and the queen do for fun around here. 

Marianne takes her first steps through the sand towards the mansion. Each step is difficult, her heavy bags of clothes and equipment weighing down every step. By the time she reaches land, her muscles slightly ache, begging for rest but Marianne continues up the hill. The moon hangs high in the sky and she starts to wonder why the queen asked her to come so late at night, but she listens to her directions anyway. 

At the large wooden doors, Marianne stops and puts down one duffle bag. She’s thankful that she wore a thin sweater since the small hike has made her extremely warm. Marianne’s knuckles bang against the door. Once she’s sure someone inside is approaching from the echoing of footsteps, she lowers her hand to pick up the duffle bag again and waits. She hears the footsteps stop from behind the door and multiple locks being opened. 

The door slightly opens, the gap so small that she can only see the eye of the girl behind it. “Yes?” The voice is small and dainty. 

“I’m Mia.” Silence hangs the air as the eye looks her up and down. Marianne raises a brow and wonders if she’s at the wrong building, but there’s nothing else near. “Am I at the right place?”

“Yes, sorry,” The woman says before opening the door wider. 

Marianne’s unable to catch a glimpse at the woman as she steps back with the large door and hides behind it. Marianne ignores the anxious feeling rising up in her stomach and takes a step in. The inside is poorly lit, only by the small candle that the woman holds from behind the door. Marianne gazes around at the large foyer; the inside is not decorated at all, just grey stone that surrounds her, stairs to the right and a dark hallway to her left.

The woman closes the door behind her. As she’s doing so, Marianne turns to take a good look at the woman. She’s small, much smaller than Marianne. She has long dark brown hair that is tied into a bun. She’s wearing a sweater that is way too big for her and tight leggings. She wears a soft smile on her lips that matches the innocence in her eyes. 

“Hi, I’m Sophie. I’m their housekeeper,” Sophie introduces herself, examining Marianne herself. “I’ll show you to your room.”

She steps past Marianne and starts to ascend the stone stairs. Marianne follows a few steps behind. At the top, there’s a door immediately to the right and another to the left. Past the door on the left, there are a few extra doors down the dark hallway. All the brown wooden doors are closed, except for the one on the right. Sophie leads her into it. 

“This is your room.”

It's an abnormally large room, clearly used as storage with a bunch of boxes and other miscellaneous items stacked to the right of the room. The walls are painted white. There’s a fireplace in the middle of the back wall and a double bed to the left with white sheets. Marianne walks in, dropping her bags by the end of the bed. Sophie watches from the door, holding the light close to her. 

Marianne turns to Sophie once the bags are down. It feels like Sophie hasn’t looked away from Marianne since she stepped into the house. Marianne puts up her guard, careful not to show any emotion to the brunette. “Thank you,” Marianne says to Sophie, hopefully to get her to leave.

Sophie gives her a warm smile, “Bathroom is the door to the left of the one straight ahead. I’m in the room to the left of that. Please don’t hesitate to come get me if you need anything.” Before Marianne could answer, Sophie turns her heels and exits the door. She closes it behind her with a light click.


	2. Chapter 2

The sun shines brightly through the large windows that surround Marianne’s bed. She groans, trying to cover her eyes with the thin covers. She can faintly hear birds chirping merrily outside and some metal clanking downstairs. Marianne’s head is foggy from tiredness, only having gotten a few hours of sleep. Marianne closes her eyes again, trying to put herself back to sleep, but she’s rudely interrupted seconds later from her phone ringing beside her head.

Marianne opens one eye and glares at her phone. Emma’s name on her screen, asking for her to pick up. Marianne picks her phone up with her hand and waits a second, hoping it would stop ringing but it doesn’t. 

“Hello?” Marianne’s voice is groggy and hoarse.

“Hey babe,” Emme’s cheery and overly happy. “How was the first night?”

“Bad, I’m so tired.”

“Did you sleep at all?”

“Maybe a few hours. I had to explore the place,” Marianne answers in a soft tone, trying to keep quiet.

“Find anything?” She did, but she won’t say. Not over the phone.

“No, nothing yet.”

There’s a knocking outside of Marianne’s door that interrupts her conversation. Marianne glares at the door, “Yes?”

“The princess will be going on her walk in 15 minutes,” Sophie’s voice calls from outside the door.

Marianne sighs. “Okay, I’ll be down then.” She waits to hear the footsteps fade away from the door before resuming her conversation. “Hey baby, I’ve got to go.”

Marianne knows Emma is frowning, “Okay, please call me later.”

“I will. Love you,” Marianne responds.

“I love you too.”

* * *

Héloïse is in the kitchen, eating some breakfast when Sophie returns from upstairs. She’s nervously shaking her leg, anxious for her morning walk. She hopes that her companion, or whatever her mother calls them, will be tolerable. The last one that was hired at the other house was awfully boring and a man. She refused to let him see her face, claiming that a man does not deserve her time. Thankfully, the man quit after a week.

She doesn’t know what to expect, but her heart races. Sophie smiles at her as she joins the table with a plate of food. “Are you nervous?”

“No,” Héloïse responds but Sophie knows she’s lying. Sophie raises her eyebrow to Héloïse, so Héloïse corrects herself, “Yes, oh my god, I hope they are cool.”

“She’s a little odd.” Sophie responds then taking a bite of bacon. A woman, Héloïse thanks whoever is out there for blessing her. 

“How do you know?” She questions anyway.

“I met her last night. She seems to have a stick up her ass.” 

Héloïse gives Sophie a questioning look, but the brunette does not continue and instead eats her food. Guess she has to find out herself.

* * *

After getting ready for the day, Marianne’s back in her room. She’s staring at her limited quantity of clothes, deciding on what to wear. She eventually settles for some tight black jeans and a signature black polo. She checks the weather on her phone and sees that it is slightly cold and windy, so she wears a jacket. Before leaving her room, Marianne loads her gun and tucks it into the holster on her belt and hides it with her jacket. One last look in the mirror, Marianne leaves the room.

She meets Sophie in the hallway. Sophie’s entering her room and does not turn to greet Marianne. Marianne shrugs this odd behaviour off and starts to go down the stairs. Halfway down the stairs, Marianne sees the princess. She’s wearing a large blue fall jacket, what seems to be legging and some sneakers. Her hood is up and Marianne can’t see her face.

As Marianne steps down from the final couple of steps, Héloïse starts walking towards the door. She’s out the door before Marianne can step onto the ground. Marianne follows her out into the brisk morning air and closes the door behind her. The sun hides behind a cloudy grey sky, shining its rays down occasionally and the wind blows cool air around. Marianne follows Héloïse’s quick steps, but weary to keep some distance.

They make it out of the path that surrounds the trees and an open field comes into view. Héloïse starts to walk faster. Marianne follows pace. Once past the trees, the world opens up. The environment around them grows brighter without the leaves blocking sunlight and Marianne can finally take a good look at the landscape. The ocean comes into view, the grass is a yellow-green colour from defrosting from the cold winder. There are jagged cliffs and rock sides everywhere with one distinct path towards the beach where Marianne trekked the night before.

They continue to walk at this quick pace, Marianne’s breathing becomes deeper. Her eyes are glued on Héloïse as she bobs up and down with her steps. Her hood slowly slips off her head with each powerful step. The sound of waves growing louder and louder. The hood finally falls to Héloïse’s shoulders and messy blonde hair tied into a haphazard bun is exposed. Marianne continues to stare at the back of her head. 

The two get closer to the cliff side. The ocean starts to become closer as the sounds of waves roars through the air. Then, out of nowhere, Héloïse starts to run. At full speed, towards the cliff. Marianne’s instinct kicks in. Her target is the queen, not the princess and surely the queen would fire her immediately. This would ruin her plan, so she runs after Héloïse.

Her feet hit the ground at great speeds. She gains ground on Héloïse quickly. Right before the cliff, Marianne wraps her arms around Héloïse’s shoulders and tackles her to the hard ground. They fall together and Marianne finds her on top of Héloïse. She lifts herself onto her hands, still hovering over Héloïse, trying to access for any injury.

Her eyes meet blue. The air in her lungs evaporates instantly. Her heart starts to pick up, faster than it already was pounding from the adrenaline. Marianne takes a deep breath in, to refill her empty lungs, but mainly to calm her rapid heart rate. She has never seen someone so attractive before.

“What the fuck was that for?” Héloïse yells and pushes Marianne off of her after a weird pause. 

Marianne falls off of her and to the side. Annoyance and anger fills Marianne and uncharacteristically she lets it out, “What the fuck were you doing? Running to your death?”

“I was just running to the cliff! I wasn’t going to kill myself,” Héloïse exclaims back. 

Marianne’s taken back by the intensity of Héloïse’s eyes when she looks at them again. Marianne opens her mouth to speak, but no words come out and she is left speechless. She starts to grow nervous. Marianne has always been able to skillfully hide her emotions, but now she’s a stumbling mess. Now, she sits on her ass facing Héloïse who has fire in her eyes, face full of anger and doesn’t know what to do nor say.

Eventually, Marianne tears her gaze away from Héloïse’s and lifts herself to her feet. Héloïse watches her the whole way while she remains on the floor. Marianne extends a hand to help Héloïse up. Héloïse hesitates at first but then snakes her hand into Marianne’s. Marianne doesn't flinch at the contact but she feels as if her hand is on fire. The heat from Héloïse runs its way through Marianne’s entire body. 

When Marianne and Héloïse are both standing, their hands don’t immediately tear apart. They stand, facing each other, eyes locked on one another and hands connected. Marianne tries in her best effort to suppress any sudden feelings she’s experienced. Only when Héloïse gives her a small smile, Marianne rips her hand back, like she has been burnt by a flame. Héloïse gives her a questioning smile and Marianne doesn’t react. 

“What’s your name?” Héloïse asks. The confusion still present on her face.

Marianne clears her throat, “Mia.”

“I’m Héloïse,” and without another word, Héloïse turns towards the path to the beach and walks away. Marianne follows behind, closer than before. 

* * *

When they return, Marianne immediately retreats to her room. She’s exhausted from the lack of sleep and from the amount of emotions she felt earlier. The rest of their walk was done in silence. Mainly Marianne walking behind her, trying to control her emotions. Every so often, Héloïse would look over her shoulder to check if Marianne was still there. Every time their eyes would lock and Marianne’s heart would race all over again. 

Now being in bed, Marianne tries to forget about the intense feelings she felt. Not surprisingly, she can’t get Héloïse out of her mind. Eventually, her mind turns off and she drifts off into a deep sleep.

* * *

Héloïse knocks on Sophie’s door and waits. Her head is turned towards Marianne’s door, slightly hoping that she’ll come out, but she doesn’t by the time Sophie opens her door. Héloïse steps in, closing the door behind her and sits beside Sophie on her bed. Héloïse leans against the wall and sighs. They sit in silence for a short amount of time, staring at the reality show playing on the TV in front of them.

“So, how was it?” Sophie eventually breaks the silence. 

“She tackled me,” Héloïse responds nonchalantly. 

“What?” Sophie's voice raises in shock. “What do you mean by tackle?”

“Like she tackled me to the ground. She thought I was going to jump off the cliff.”

“Well, if you didn’t randomly start sprinting to the cliff every time you get a new companion then maybe she wouldn’t have to do that.”

Héloïse looks at Sophie with a smirk, “That’s how you weed out the weak.”

Sophie laughs at her friend’s antics, “You’re really something else.”

“You love it.”

* * *

It’s dinner and the three girls are sitting at the end of the long wooden table in the middle of the old fashioned kitchen. They’re eating in silence, only the sound of metal utensils on ceramic plates. Marianne’s tense as she feels both Sophie and Héloïse’s gaze on her, but she refuses to look up from her meal. She made that mistake once and locked eyes with Héloïse for a second too long making her heart race again.

“So, your mother will be back tomorrow Héloïse,” Sophie finally decides to break the silence. 

Héloïse nods while chewing. When she swallows her food, she responds, “Great, I wonder what she’ll news she’ll bring back this time.”

“Hopefully something fun,” Sophie says before turning her attention to Marianne. “Mia, tell us about yourself.”

Marianne stops midchew. She slowly looks up and finishes chewing her food, “What do you want to know?”

Héloïse and Sophie share a confused look, wondering why Marianne is so odd. Sophie looks back at Marianne, who is staring at her with a blank expression. 

“We’ll start with why did you take this job?” 

“I was qualified,” Marianne answers shortly.

“Okay…” 

Héloïse jumps in now, “What do you do for fun?”

“I paint,” Marianne answers. 

“Can I see your stuff?”

“No.”

Héloïse feels a small pain shoot through her, but she moves on. She’s annoyed with Marianne because of her rudeness. She starts a conversation with Sophie. She watches Marianne put her head back down and focus on her plate out of the side of her view. Her curiosity about Marianne grows. She has so many unanswered questions and she’s determined to have them answered.

* * *

Marianne exits the shower and steps into a steamy bathroom. Dinner was a shit show. Marianne has always been good at talking to people, but for some reason she’s a mess around Héloïse. She has no explanation to why she’s acting like this, blaming it on nerves of not having a partner to watch her back. She always had her father, his partner or Emma with her and this is her first true mission alone. 

Marianne dries off her body and runs her hand through her short hair. She didn’t bother to bring any clothes into the bathroom with her since her room is so close. So, she wraps the towel loosely around her and hopes that she won’t run into anyone. Marianne cracks the door open slightly and peeks out. So far, so clear. 

Marianne steps out. Her feet light on the wooden floor. She makes it to her room in record time. She closes the door behind her, and goes directly to the wardrobe beside her bed. She looks at all the clothes she brought and realizes that she doesn’t have much. She frowns and sighs at her poor packing skills.

Someone in the corner coughs. Marianne quickly reacts by reaching for the gun that sits loaded in her closet that is hidden under some clothes. She goes to hold it up, but from the corner of her eye she can see Héloïse standing there with red cheeks. Marianne slowly lowers the gun, trying to not to draw her attention to her actions. 

“I’m sorry. I assumed- I thought- clothes,” Héloïse stumbles out.

Marianne’s chest warms at how adorable Héloïse is when she’s embarrassed. Marianne fights a smile, while raising a brow at Héloïse. Marianne decides that it would be fun to see how far she can push Héloïse.

“I didn’t think anyone would be in my room.”

Héloïse visibly tenses. Her fingers fiddle with one another in front of her. Marianne can sense her nervousness from the other side of the room. Times like this, Marianne’s thankful she hides her guns well.

“I’m sorry,” Héloïse mumbles out. Her feet pick up and she makes her way to the door. 

Marianne reacts immediately and cuts Héloïse off before she could reach the door. Her heart races when they lock eyes, mere inches apart. Marianne can smell Héloïse’s shampoo and swears she can feel her hot breath. Marianne has an urge to reach out. Wrap her hand around Héloïse’s neck. Pull her in. Taste her.

These thoughts instantly vanish when Marianne’s phone starts to ring and she’s brought back into reality. They both break their gaze and turn to the source of the noise. They both realize the situation they are in. Inches away. Marianne is basically naked, only covered by a flimsy towel. Héloïse is nervous. Marianne’s heart beating abnormally fast. 

Marianne leaves her spot in front of Héloïse and retrieves her phone. Emma’s name is large on the screen and Marianne’s heart drops. Guilt washes over her. Though, she doesn’t have a desire to answer. Marianne waits until the screen goes black before turning her attention back to Héloïse. 

But she’s not there. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello everyone i hope you enjoyed this chapter. updates should be once a week, every sundayish. it feels good to be back so hopefully i'll get this fic done in a timely manner :)) please let me know what you think of this chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning Marianne wakes from a loud knocking on the door. She startles awake and reaches for the gun under the other pillow. It’s ingrained in her mind to always be prepared for the worst possible scenario. She waits a second in hopes that the person behind the door will leave, but no luck when they knock again.

Marianne exits her bed slowly, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She lets out a yawn as she walks towards the door. The gun is tucked into the back of the waistband of her shorts. She opens the door and sees Sophie standing there in a long dress. Her hair is done up, clearly evident she has been awake for hours and had ample time to dress herself. 

“Héloïse wants to go on a walk in 20 minutes.” 

Marianne just nods and closes the door again. Today’s the big day. The day she finally meets the queen and the start of the plan. She doesn’t feel nervous, but more excited. The sooner she can finish this job, the sooner she can go back home to Emma and live out a normal life. That’s all she wants. A steady job, a house and someone to come to at home at night. To not look over her shoulder anymore. 

She dresses comfortably with a black sweater and sweatpants and before she knows it, she’s out in the chill air with Héloïse. The sun is high in the sky, beaming down warmth on the two who sit on the beach atop of a small blanket. They haven’t said much to one another. They’re both sitting in an uncomfortable silence, staring off to the abyss of the sea and listening to the crashing of waves. 

“Are you the only child?” Héloïse asks out of nowhere.

Marianne turns her head to her. Héloïse is staring down at the blanket, her finger playing with some loose blue thread. “Yes.”

“Thought so,” Héloïse says, still not looking up.

Marianne raises her eyebrow in confusion, “What do you mean?”

“That’s why you act like that.”

“Like what?”

Héloïse pauses. “Like you’re the only child.”

Marianne lets out a small chuckle at the bizarre statement. This causes Héloïse to look up at her with amusement in her eye. Marianne can see tiny sparkles in her eyes from the sun. She looks young, joyous almost. 

“Are you?”

“No, I had a sister.”

Marianne swallows a lump in her throat. She had completely forgotten about this incident, as she tries for all of her previous jobs. 

* * *

“Just watch the door and I’ll handle what’s inside,” A deep voice whispers to Marianne.

She only nods. She watches her father quietly and slowly turns the golden door knob. The door doesn’t creak as he opens it. Silence fills the air as he steps in. Marianne stays outside the door, watching her surroundings, trying to blend into the darkness. Though, even on high alert, she tries to focus on any noises she hears in the room behind her.

A minute passes, nothing.

Another minute and there’s an eruption of noises in the room. She tenses. She hears noises similar to a body colliding against furniture. She hears grunting and muffled yelling. Anxiety washes over her, she starts lightly tapping her fingers against her leg. She stays put. Knowing that if her father needed help, he would call, but she knows she’s more valuable keeping watch regardless.

She flinches when she hears a loud bang. A gunshot rings through the empty mansion. Marianne’s heart racing against the walls of her chest. She hopes no one else is home. From the rooms they checked, it seemed clear. 

Finally, her father soon exits the room with his gun still in his hand as he puts something away in his blazer pocket. Marianne doesn’t question it, she wants to get out of this place. He gives her a small nod, no emotion in his eye. She’s sure he can sense how anxious she is and understands her desire to leave. He puts a bruised and bloody hand on her shoulder, as he always does and squeezes lightly. Something he always did to reassure her that it will be okay.

He drops his hand not a second later then walks past Marianne. She follows him closely behind, making sure that her footsteps remain light and as quiet as possible. They start to descend down the grand wooden stairs. Marianne’s hands grip the railing. She stops dead in her tracks when she hears a door opening from the hallway. She watches frozen as her father continues down the stairs.

Marianne turns in spot and looks up at the hallway, She sees a slender woman emerge from the darkness and walk towards the slightly agape door that Marianne was standing in front prior. Marianne’s heart races even more when she hears screaming. Marianne rushes down the stairs, where her father waits for her. 

Before she could take the last step down, she looked up. She sees scared eyes peer over the railing. There are tears rolling down her cheeks, her lips quivering. They stare at each other in silence. She looks young, maybe a little older than Marianne is. Her eyes are a soft blue that slightly glows in the dark. Her long blonde hair sits messily over her shoulder. Marianne will never forget the look in her eyes.

The woman is silently sobbing. Marianne feels sorrow for her. Witnessing a loved one’s death is something that is so difficult to deal with, but to experience it this way, it’s a tragedy. Her heart aches for her. It happens so fast. The switch of emotions, from sadness to shock when her father steps in front of her, aims his gun and presses the trigger.

Marianne will never forget how her lifeless body falls to the floor. She’ll never forget that final second of fear in her eyes. Nor will she forget the lack of emotion in her father’s eyes. She’ll never forget the ringing in her ears from the gun being shot so close to her. She’ll never forget the first time she saw her father for who he was. 

* * *

“What happened to her?” Marianne asks, despite already knowing.

“She was murdered, along with my father,” Héloïse responds with hurt so evident in her voice. Her eyes still averted to the blanket below. 

Marianne doesn’t know what prompted her to do this, but she takes her hand from her lap and places it onto Héloïse’s thigh. She ignores the slight burning sensation on her palm. This action causes blue eyes to shoot up from the thread and lock with her hazel. It takes Marianne’s breath away at the intensity. Héloïse’s face flushed red and that’s all Marianne needs to not move her hand.

Even though Marianne doesn’t press this topic further, Héloïse continues to talk, looking away from Marianne’s gaze now. “I didn’t even get to see them. By the time I got home, they were gone. My mother wouldn’t tell me what happened, but I knew,” Héloïse wipes a tear from her face, “My father wasn’t a great man, and a very horrible king.”

Marianne absorbs all this and forces a reaction as if this was the first time she has heard of this. As if she wasn’t the one to give Héloïse’s sister and father their fate. Héloïse looks back at Marianne. She gives her a sad smile, her hand still on Héloïse’s leg, her thumb rubbing the soft fabric of Héloïse’s pants. 

“I’m sorry,” Marianne whispers. She tries to make her voice as soft as possible, cringing at the slight lack of emotions. 

Héloïse does something that takes Marianne by surprise. She grabs Marianne’s hand that sits on her thigh and squeezes it. Her hand is firm yet soft at the same time and a little damp from tears that she previously wiped from her face. Marianne finds herself not minding, more focused on the contact between them. It’s small, but it makes Marainne feel like she’s 12 and with her crush for the first time.

* * *

Marianne hears indistinct voices from outside her room. She ignores it, hoping that she won’t be interrupted until dinner. She sits on a chair near a large window with her legs propped up on the ledge. There’s a cigarette between her fingers with a book in hand. Her phone propped against the window with Emma’s face on it. 

“It sucks being here without you,” Emma pouts.

Marianne takes a drag from the cigarette and smiles. “I miss you too, but it’s only been three days.”

“I know, but I miss sex,” Emma whines.

Marianne takes another drag. She stares at her phone and sees Emma lying in bed on her side, her face half covered by her pillow. Marianne finds her so adorable, but she can’t help thinking about earlier in the day. The feeling she felt when she locked eyes with her or when she grabbed Marianne’s hand. 

“Babe?” Emma’s voice brings her out of her thoughts.

Marianne stares back at the phone, “Oh sorry. The queen comes back today and I’m just thinking about  _ it. _ ”

“Wanna go through it again?”

Marianne shakes her head and leaves it at that. She checks her room three times a day for any bugs, even though she hasn’t found anything yet, she’s still paranoid. But the task should be done soon. They continue to talk for another half hour, Marianne reading and Emma doing whatever she’s doing. She has to admit she enjoys spending time with Emma, but she won’t admit that she’s a little excited to see Héloïse.

* * *

Marianne wants to ask where the queen is, but she doesn’t. The three women sit around the table once again for dinner. Marianne once again decides to not join the conversation. She’s more focused on rerunning the plan through her head. Meet the queen, figure out her daily schedule, isolate her, do the job and then disappear into thin air. She ignores an odd feeling that she can’t pinpoint.

“Mia?”

Marianne’s eyes shoot up to blue eyes. She was so focused that she didn’t even know that the attention was on her. “Yes?”

“Do you want to watch a movie with us?” Héloïse asks. Her lips turned up into a smile and there’s joy in her eyes. Marianne finds herself comparing Héloïse to Emma.

Despite knowing she shouldn’t, she agrees anyway, “Sure. What movie?”

* * *

Marianne didn’t expect to be in front of a TV in Héloïse’s room watching a horror movie with the lights turned off. She definitely didn’t expect to be sitting so close to Héloïse on a couch together. Sophie called the single loveseat to herself, saying that she’ll definitely hurt someone during the jumpscares if they sit too close. Héloïse didn’t argue at all and Marianne kept her mouth shut.

Marianne’s hyper aware that her entire side is pressed against the blonde. She tries to ignore the warmth coming from Héloïse. Somehow, she was talked into sharing one blanket. Actually it was quite easy, Héloïse suggested it and Marianne didn’t have it in her to deny this experience. Marianne tries her hardest to focus on the movie, but her mind constantly wanders. To Emma, to the queen, to Héloïse. It’s all becoming too much, but only a few more days.

Marianne’s mind was elsewhere when a jump scare happened in the movie. She didn’t even realize it until she felt Héloïse’s arms wrap around her. Marianne tenses instinctually, but after a couple of seconds she relaxes. Héloïse acts like she doesn’t even notice that she’s half on top of Marianne, her eyes glued to the screen. Deep down, Marianne doesn’t want her to let go, so she remains silent and tries to focus on the movie, ignoring the way her heart is racing.

The movie concludes and Héloïse hasn’t moved from her position. She doesn’t move when Sophie stands and announces that she goes to sleep. She still doesn’t move when Marianne turns her head to face her. She only turns hers to face the brunette. Marianne can feel her breath escape her slightly parted lips. Marianne watches blue eyes leave hers and look down at her lips. Marianne’s skins on fire now, her heart racing so fast, she starts to breathe from her mouth. 

“Héloïse,” Marianne whispers, barely audible over whatever is playing on the TV.

Héloïse looks up from Marianne’s lip. Her pupils grow in size. Marianne wants nothing more than to kiss her. Emma pops into her mind, but she pushes the thought away. She wonders what Héloïse tastes like. Héloïse looks back down at her lips. It would be so easy just to lean in. Feel her lips on hers. 

“Kiss me,” Héloïse whispers.

Then there’s a knock on the door. Héloïse climbs off of Marianne with haste. “Héloïse? Mia?” A feminine voice that Marianne hasn’t heard before calls out from the otherside of the door. 

Héloïse gives Marianne a sad look before getting off the couch to answer the door. Marianne watches her in shock. She tries to calm down her heart rate and control her thoughts. Marianne leans forward and puts both hands in her hair, roughing it up out of sexual frustration. She takes one final breath before Héloïse opens the door. 

Héloïse doesn’t open the door fully at first. She whispers something before pulling it wide open. It’s an older woman, evident from the wrinkles on her face. Her face looks worn with weak blue eyes that reminds Marianne of the ones from that night. Her short curly hair falls naturally. She’s wearing a silk nightgown that makes her look elegant. Marianne knows that she wouldn’t recognize her, so she remains calm.

“You must be Mia,” She says walking into Héloïse’s room. There’s a weird tension in the room now. “I’m Valeria.”

Marianne raises from the couch and walks confidently towards Valeria.“Nice to meet you ma’am.” They shake hands. 

“Sorry to have met you so late in the night. I had business to take care of,” Valeria explains with a soft smile on her face. 

Marianne nods firmly, giving up no emotion. “That’s no problem. Héloïse knows how to keep me busy.”

“Not too busy, I hope,” She grins. Marianne gives a tight smile back. She doesn’t want to get too emotional with Valeria before she does the job. “May I request you join me for lunch tomorrow in the town?” She turns, “Both of you.”

Marianne looks past Valeria and at Héloïse, who shrugs and answers a simple, “Sure Maman.” Marianne nods her answer. 

“That settles it,” She says cheerfully. “I’ll meet you two in town at around 2. Good night you two.”

She then makes her way out of the room without another word. The tensed aura leaves with Valeria. 

Marianne hesitates for a second and realizes she should also be leaving. Héloïse waits for her at the door with slight sadness spread across her face. It’s easy to miss, but after spending years with Emma, Marianne knows how to detect the slightest bit of emotion. Though, Marianne doesn’t exit right away. She stands in front of Héloïse, with a smirk on her face. She watches Héloïse cower under her gaze and a slight blush starts to appear on her cheeks. 

“Good night. Sweet dreams,” Marianne whispers and gives her a wink. She leaves before Héloïse can say or do anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys i am so sorry for the late update! life got busy but here is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy please let me know what you think :)


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